Spirit Airlines reveals 13 new routes, adds Asheville and Greensboro

Spirit Airlines will expand to Greensboro and Asheville, making the North Carolina cities the 66th and 67th destinations in its network. Spirit will fly three Florida routes from each.

The North Carolina flights are part of an ongoing expansion for fast-growing Spirit, which had announced seven other new routes just a week earlier. Combined, the announcements give Spirit a total of one two destinations and 13 new routes. (Scroll to bottom for schedule details on all of the new routes)

Spirit's first aircraft to get the airline's new paint scheme is rolled outside for photographs at ...more

Spirit's first aircraft to get the airline's new paint scheme is rolled outside for photographs at the Premier Aviation Overhaul Center in Rome, N.Y., on Sept. 15, 2014.

Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY

In Greensboro, Spirit will begin flying from the Piedmont Triad International Airport (GSO) on Sept. 6, when it launches non-stop flights to Fort Lauderdale and Tampa. A third route – to Orlando – begins a day later. The carrier will fly anywhere from two to four flights a week on the routes, which will operate year-round.

From Asheville (AVL), Spirit will fly the same three routes. That service also will launch on Sept. 6, when Spirit adds Tampa service. Fort Lauderdale and Orlando flights will begin Sept. 7.

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For GSO, the new flights mean the airport will be served by all three of the USA’s big no-frills, “ultra low-cost carriers" (ULCCs). Allegiant and Frontier already fly from the city, though Frontier’s service to Denver is seasonal.

Spirit’s three GSO-Florida routes will not directly compete with any competitors, though they will go up against service to some secondary airports in the same markets. Allegiant flies non-stop from Greensboro to St. Petersburg (near Tampa) and to Orlando’s secondary Sanford airport.

No airline currently offers non-stop service between Greensboro and Fort Lauderdale, though American’s service from the North Carolina airport includes a route to its busy hub in Miami.

And in Asheville, Spirit becomes the second ULCC to fly to the Smoky Mountain gateway city. Allegiant already flies from Asheville. As in Greensboro, Allegiant's St. Petersburg and Orlando/Sanford flights are similar to Spirit's planned service to the primary airports (Tampa, Orlandoo) in those markets. Allegiant has also announced plans for non-stop service between Asheville and Fort Lauderdale.

Elsewhere, Spirit announced seven new routes that will fly between the airline’s existing destinations. Atlanta; Detroit; Kansas City; Myrtle Beach, S.C; Newark; and Philadelphia are among cities getting new flights.

Of particular note is that Spirit will take on several of the USA’s biggest carriers on routes from “fortress hubs” dominated by those rivals.

Spirit’s new Newark-Atlanta service, for example, will go head-to-head with both Delta and United. Delta operates its busiest hub in Atlanta while Newark is a major hub for United. Spirit also is adding two new routes from Philadelphia that will overlap with America, which operates a hub there. Another route from Detroit will go against Delta, which counts Detroit as a hub city.